Coin controlled mechanism



March 4, 1947. E. F. SEMMLER COIN CONTROLLED MECHANISM s Sheets-Sheet 1Filed July 5, 1944 8 M m. ms F F e m E ATTORNEY March 4, 1947. SEMMLER2,416,665

COIN CONTROLLED MECHANISM Filed July 3; 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR.

Elm er F. Semm/er BY ATTORNEY March 4, 1947. vSEMMLER 2,416,665

COIN CONTROLLED MECHANISM Filed July 3, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I we INVEN TOR.

Elmer F. Semm/er ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 4, 1947 UNITED STATES I EATEN'TOFFICE m GONTROLLED MECHANISM Elmer F: Semmler, Detroit, Mich.Application July 3, 1944', Serial No.543 ,21 1

(cl: i9.4"'85;):

Cla ms 1'- My ihven'tio'n pertains to coin oontrolledmechanisms; andmore particularly to coin controlled manually operated mechanisms whichcomplete a predetermined cycle of operations in response to}theihs'ertionofi a single coin of a predeter mined denomination.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple c'o'inc'ont'rolledmechanism which is of a rugged construction and which ispositive and reliable in operation. 7

It is also-an object of my invention-to provide s'uch a coin controlledmechanism which is readily" adaptable for awidevariety of differentuses.

It is a further'object of my invention to provide' a coin controlledamusement and vending ma'ch'ine of improved simplicity and reliability.

Another object of my invention istoprovide an improved coin: retainer;

A fiir'ther object ofmy' invention is to provide an improved dispensingarrangement fcrvendin'g machines.

Further objects and advantages are withinthe scope of the invention;such as relate to, the ar-' rangement, operation and function-of therelated elements: of the? structure; to various? details ofconstruction? and to combinations: of parts, elements; pe'r se; and toeconomies'of-z manufacture andiznunierousi other features as wil1 -beapparent from-a consideration of: the specification in conjunctio'mwiththe'drawings disclosing specific em bodiments of theinvention, in which:

Fig. 1" is a; front elevational? View. of an im. proved" amusement. and:Vending; device embodying m'y coin. controlled" mechanism, with theenclosureiremovedi- 1 Fig; 2fi$ a;-side-e1eva tionakView thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged? detailview talgem on line: 313 in:Fig,=- 1; and: showing: the O Ik eta- I- EW Fig-.- 4? isanenlargedifragmentarr viewofi chain linksanCl-catchg:

Fig. 5 is' a; cross-sectional view taken; on; line .1 showina hea smhdise st ei niz.

11 s,: 6; 1 5a plan view of? the dispensing tor-k:

and

,7 is; ai-frontv elevational view -Of:' the C19,". vl ce withthe enc reonr penific ys totlii s. hand;

ofk' t ieedrawins impr ved oin controllect mechanism comprises"- a' baseI l", which: may be stamped out: of sheet metal with a. marginal flangef2: turned up. for receiving an enclosure; or it: may be. madeof anyother suitable mate rial as will be'understood. A coin chute I3 isprovided having a cross-section of suitable di mension's for pas'si'ng,a coin: M" of" any desired denomination, such as a penny or a nickel forexample, and of a rigid construction such a's a: casting for example.The coin chutelr3vismounted in such av position that when a: suit-V ablecoin: is placedl therein.- it will pass through under the influence ofgravity, and-t for mounh ing? it is. provided with a pedestal l5 whichmay be secured. to the proper point on the base; by means ofi screwslrlor other fastening means.

I A"- drivingmember I 9 011 a shaft 20" is rotaitively: supported on:the base with one end? ad ja'cen-t. the coin ejecting. end" of:- the:coin: chute I3 bym'eans'of a bearing bracket 2 I: which may be secured:-on the base, a'ssby screws-'23: A'driven' member 25 is secured toand-*rotatively support; ed'iby the shaft 26 in beari ng brackets:fl's'ecured to the base; as by? screws 25., The driven memzber 25 isi'.so mounted? that it. isaxially aligned with the 'dri'vingrmemberl8 withone end spaced from the end 0f? the driving member under. the

coin ejecting end of the coin chute; the space between the rotary?members: I 9 and' 25? be in: less than the diameter of the: coin I' l".The end: of the driving member; I:9- toward: the driven member 25' is:provided with a, slot 34: which passesthrough the: axis of rotation inthemem-. ber'.: The adjacently spaced endofthe rotative member 252 issimilarly" provided with;-a-= slot 33' which: passes: through the centerof; rotation Said drivenmem e and op ns tc ard: th

other; slot in complementary fashion for receiving a coin therebetwee'n.The widthscfithe-slots are accordinglymade-slightly greaterthanthethickness of the; coin; of predetermined; denomination toybe used; Lf-hedepths of. the slots: into the adjacent spaced ends of; the: respectivedrip a ah yzdispesed; nitheflowersi cpi heispace between: th tww spaced;drivin andthe-dr ve membersdsi r c n: retai er 35 or ensa the base. 7 1upon the shaft 53, and a chain 51 passes overthe 1 two chain wheels ofthe driven members so that lower edge of a coin, when it falls into thetwo which is integral or rigid with the coin retainer.

1 A tension spring 4| is tensioned between the extended end of thecontrol arm 39 and a stationary anchor pin from the base to normallybias the coin retainerto its coin holding position wherein it isaccurately stopped by any suitable stop such as a stop screw or pin 43rising from the base and abutting the other side of the coin retainerlever.

, When a coin drops into the complementary slots,

between the driving and the driven members, the upper end of theretainer lever 35 catches and holds the coin so that it does not dropentirely I through. As may be seen in Figs. land 3, the

upper end of the retainer lever 35 is provided with a laterallyprojecting tab 44 the upper edge of which is shaped to a concavecurvature, as shown in. Fig. 3, for receiving the edge of the coinl4-and permitting'it to rotate as the driving 1 member i9 is rotatedtoapply torque through the coin for rotating the driven member 25. Forthis purpose the curve in the upper end of the retainer tab 44 ispreferably circular with a radius equal to the radius of the coin, aboutthe center of rotation of the members. This tends tocenter the coin whenthe members rotate instead of sliding the coin backand forth in theslots. Gravity acting on the crank, normally holds the driving 1 memberl9 so that its slot is in a proper coin 1 receiving position.

The coin is released by swinging the upper end lines.

tainer lever 35. A chain wheel 5!, which may be any, desired type ofchain wheel, is firmly secured f on the shaft in connection with thedriven mem ber 25. Actually the driven member 25 may be the hub of thechain wheel "5|, as shown. A see- 0nd rotary driven member comprising ashaft '53 is rotatively mounted in spaced relationbelcw the first drivenmember on bearings rising from A second chain wheel 56 is secured theseare operated simultaneously. One link of ber before the coin isreleased, depending upon the particular cycle of operations it isdesired to accomplish through the coin control mechanism, such asvending, amusements, opening doors or many other purposes, as will bereadily understood.

My coin control mechanism may be advantageously utilized for vending bymounting a merchandise storage bin 63 secured to and spaced from thebase in a vertical position as by screws 65 through a mounting andspacing bracket 61. As shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the bin is open at thetop and the bottom and is preferably formed by bending a sheet of metalto provide side Walls 69 with narrow flanges H turned in together at thefront providing an open front slot for convenience in viewing or loadingthe merchandise in the bin. A dispensing plate 12 is mounted from thebase in suitable spaced relation under the lower end of the bin to forman ejection slot of suitable width to pass a single piece or package ofthe merchandise, such as gum, candy, or the like. A U-shaped dispensingmember or fork I3 is supported on the lower end of a dispensing lever 15which is pivotally supported upon a stationary pivot pin 16 from thebase. The dispensing fork 13 has a front arm I! and 'a back arm'l9suitably spaced to allow a piece of merchandise'to' fall downtherebetween and rest uponthe dispensing plate 12. The front arm 11 ofthe fork normally holds this piece of merchandise so it can not bedislodged by vibrations and caused to slide out. When the dispensinglever 15 swings clockwise, the back arm 19 of the fork pushes the pieceof merchandise out through the ejection slot causing it to slide downthe dispensing plate 12. To hold up the merchandise in the bin, the backmember 59 is provided with a guard 8| extending fromt-he upper edge ofthis arm of the'fork upwardly and to the right hand side, as viewed inFig. 1, where it can be seen that the lower end of the bin is at thatside cut and bent mat a suitable curvature 82 to'permit the freeswinging movement-of the dispensing fork and to properly guide the flowof the merchandise. To operate the dispensing fork [3 it is operativelyconnectedto the lower end of the coin retainer through a link'83.

" The dispensing plate I2 is curved and inclined downwardly and towardthe left hand side to cause an ejected piece of merchandise -to slidedown and out for delivery, through a suitable aperture 85 provided inthe enclosure 8'! which is shown in position in Fig. 7. A guard plate 89is mounted under the lower driven member and chain'wheel to preventinsertion of any instru ment through the dispensing aperture in the'en-'1 the chain 51 carries a projecting catch 59, shown 7 more clearly inFig. (l, which is carried to engage and move'thefree end ofthe releaselever 45, 1 as shown by the arrows,'ju st as a desired cycle ofoperations'has been completed. This moves the engaged end of the releaselever 45 down;

The distance between the two rotatable driven members" and chain Wheelsmay be selected to 1 p ance-a length. of chain suitable for one, two Ior. more complete revolutions of'the driven men closure to engage andturn the chain wheel for dispensing merchandise without the insertion ofa proper coin into the coin chute. The enclosure 81 is provided with along vertical window 92 for viewing' the merchandise through the frontslot in the storage bin 63. V

For showing an amusement strip such as a strip of pictures, a roller 93is provided to rotate with each driven member, as by being'securedupo'n'the hibiting the strip to the'opera'tor as the device is operated.When the exhibition of the strip is completed. the catch 59 on the chain51 engages a coincollector for receiving and collecting coins depositedfor actuating said member, a bracket.

projecting from said base for supporting said coin collector and forminga lock receiving hasp, enclosure means suitable to be installed uponsaid base for enclosing and protecting said coin collector and themechanism from unauthorized interference, and said enclosure meanshaving an open area suitable for passing over the lock receiving haspportion of the'bracket.

ELMER F. SEMMLER.

REFERENCES CITED 4 .The following references are of recordin the 1 VNumber file of this patent:

8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Smith -1.- Apr, 5, 1892' PorterApr. 10, 1900 Haverly July 7, 1908 Bridges Sept. 18, 1917 Behrens Dec.18, 1917 Richardson et al. May 13, 1930 V Giles Nov. 8, 1932 Richardsonet al. Nov. 2'7, 1928 Hunt Nov. 10, 1891 Sangster et al. July 6, 1943FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Levy (German) Nov. 2'7, 1896

